diff --git a/sequencer.c b/sequencer.c
index b553b49fbb6..bceb6abcb6c 100644
--- a/sequencer.c
+++ b/sequencer.c
@@ -2477,7 +2477,6 @@ void todo_list_release(struct todo_list *todo_list)
 static struct todo_item *append_new_todo(struct todo_list *todo_list)
 {
 	ALLOC_GROW(todo_list->items, todo_list->nr + 1, todo_list->alloc);
-	todo_list->total_nr++;
 	return todo_list->items + todo_list->nr++;
 }
 
@@ -2668,7 +2667,7 @@ int todo_list_parse_insn_buffer(struct repository *r, char *buf,
 	char *p = buf, *next_p;
 	int i, res = 0, fixup_okay = file_exists(rebase_path_done());
 
-	todo_list->current = todo_list->nr = 0;
+	todo_list->current = todo_list->nr = todo_list->total_nr = 0;
 
 	for (i = 1; *p; i++, p = next_p) {
 		char *eol = strchrnul(p, '\n');
@@ -2689,6 +2688,9 @@ int todo_list_parse_insn_buffer(struct repository *r, char *buf,
 			item->commit = NULL;
 		}
 
+		if (item->command != TODO_COMMENT)
+			todo_list->total_nr++;
+
 		if (fixup_okay)
 			; /* do nothing */
 		else if (is_fixup(item->command))
@@ -4270,7 +4272,7 @@ void todo_list_filter_update_refs(struct repository *r,
 		if (!is_null_oid(&rec->after))
 			continue;
 
-		for (j = 0; !found && j < todo_list->total_nr; j++) {
+		for (j = 0; !found && j < todo_list->nr; j++) {
 			struct todo_item *item = &todo_list->items[j];
 			const char *arg = todo_list->buf.buf + item->arg_offset;
 
@@ -4300,7 +4302,7 @@ void todo_list_filter_update_refs(struct repository *r,
 	 * For each todo_item, check if its ref is in the update_refs list.
 	 * If not, then add it as an un-updated ref.
 	 */
-	for (i = 0; i < todo_list->total_nr; i++) {
+	for (i = 0; i < todo_list->nr; i++) {
 		struct todo_item *item = &todo_list->items[i];
 		const char *arg = todo_list->buf.buf + item->arg_offset;
 		int j, found = 0;
@@ -6148,7 +6150,8 @@ int complete_action(struct repository *r, struct replay_opts *opts, unsigned fla
 	todo_list_to_strbuf(r, &new_todo, &buf2, -1, 0);
 	strbuf_swap(&new_todo.buf, &buf2);
 	strbuf_release(&buf2);
-	new_todo.total_nr -= new_todo.nr;
+	/* Nothing is done yet, and we're reparsing, so let's reset the count */
+	new_todo.total_nr = 0;
 	if (todo_list_parse_insn_buffer(r, new_todo.buf.buf, &new_todo) < 0)
 		BUG("invalid todo list after expanding IDs:\n%s",
 		    new_todo.buf.buf);
diff --git a/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh b/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh
index f03599c63b9..96ae0edf1e1 100755
--- a/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh
+++ b/t/t3430-rebase-merges.sh
@@ -578,4 +578,12 @@ test_expect_success '--rebase-merges with message matched with onto label' '
 	EOF
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'progress shows the correct total' '
+	git checkout -b progress H &&
+	git rebase --rebase-merges --force-rebase --verbose A 2> err &&
+	# Expecting "Rebasing (N/14)" here, no bogus total number
+	grep "^Rebasing.*/14.$" err >progress &&
+	test_line_count = 14 progress
+'
+
 test_done